Correlation Between Natural Gas and Lumber Futures

Can any of the company-specific risk be diversified away by investing in both Natural Gas and Lumber Futures at the same time? Although using a correlation coefficient on its own may not help to predict future stock returns, this module helps to understand the diversifiable risk of combining Natural Gas and Lumber Futures into the same portfolio, which is an essential part of the fundamental portfolio management process.

By analyzing existing cross correlation between Natural Gas and Lumber Futures, you can compare the effects of market volatilities on Natural Gas and Lumber Futures and check how they will diversify away market risk if combined in the same portfolio for a given time horizon. You can also utilize pair trading strategies of matching a long position in Natural Gas with a short position of Lumber Futures. Check out your portfolio center. Please also check ongoing floating volatility patterns of Natural Gas and Lumber Futures.

Diversification Opportunities for Natural Gas and Lumber Futures

0.58

Correlation Coefficient

Natural Gas  Lumber Futures

Very weak diversification

The 3 months correlation between Natural and Lumber is 0.58. Overlapping area represents the amount of risk that can be diversified away by holding Natural Gas and Lumber Futures in the same portfolio, assuming nothing else is changed. The correlation between historical prices or returns on Lumber Futures and Natural Gas is a relative statistical measure of the degree to which these equity instruments tend to move together. The correlation coefficient measures the extent to which returns on Natural Gas are associated (or correlated) with Lumber Futures. Values of the correlation coefficient range from -1 to +1, where. The correlation of zero (0) is possible when the price movement of Lumber Futures has no effect on the direction of Natural Gas i.e., Natural Gas and Lumber Futures go up and down completely randomly.

Pair Corralation between Natural Gas and Lumber Futures

Assuming the 90 days horizon Natural Gas is expected to generate 2.23 times less return on investment than Lumber Futures. In addition to that, Natural Gas is 2.48 times more volatile than Lumber Futures. It trades about 0.03 of its total potential returns per unit of risk. Lumber Futures is currently generating about 0.19 per unit of volatility. If you would invest  55,450  in Lumber Futures on December 29, 2024 and sell it today you would earn a total of  12,550  from holding Lumber Futures or generate 22.63% return on investment over 90 days.

Time Period	3 Months [change]
Direction	Moves Together
Strength	Weak
Accuracy	96.88%
Values	Daily Returns

Natural Gas  vs.  Lumber Futures

Natural Gas

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Weak

Compared to the overall equity markets, risk-adjusted returns on investments in Natural Gas are ranked lower than 2 (%) of all global equities and portfolios over the last 90 days. In spite of rather unsteady basic indicators, Natural Gas may actually be approaching a critical reversion point that can send shares even higher in April 2025.

Lumber Futures

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Good

Compared to the overall equity markets, risk-adjusted returns on investments in Lumber Futures are ranked lower than 14 (%) of all global equities and portfolios over the last 90 days. In spite of rather weak basic indicators, Lumber Futures exhibited solid returns over the last few months and may actually be approaching a breakup point.

Pair Trading with Natural Gas and Lumber Futures

The main advantage of trading using opposite Natural Gas and Lumber Futures positions is that it hedges away some unsystematic risk. Because of two separate transactions, even if Natural Gas position performs unexpectedly, Lumber Futures can make up some of the losses. Pair trading also minimizes risk from directional movements in the market. For example, if an entire industry or sector drops because of unexpected headlines, the short position in Lumber Futures will offset losses from the drop in Lumber Futures' long position.

The idea behind Natural Gas and Lumber Futures pairs trading is to make the combined position market-neutral, meaning the overall market's direction will not affect its win or loss (or potential downside or upside). This can be achieved by designing a pairs trade with two highly correlated stocks or equities that operate in a similar space or sector, making it possible to obtain profits through simple and relatively low-risk investment.

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Note that this page's information should be used as a complementary analysis to find the right mix of equity instruments to add to your existing portfolios or create a brand new portfolio. You can also try the Premium Stories module to follow Macroaxis premium stories from verified contributors across different equity types, categories and coverage scope.